REGIME IN JORDAN

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28251, 12 April 1957, Page 13

REGIME IN JORDAN

Search For New Cabinet (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 9 p.m.) AMMAN, April 11. King Hussein, of Jordan, has called a number of the country’s leading politicians to his palace in an effort to form a new Cabinet. This follows yesterday’s resignation, at the King’s request, of the Cabinet led by Mr Suleiman Nabulsi, the former Prime Minister. No official reason was given for the resignation, but it was understood that one cause was a lack of co-operation between the Government and the King. The King asked Mr Nabulsi and his Cabinet to stay in power until a new Cabinet was formed.

A Royal decree has appointed Brigadier Mohammed Maiyta, chief aide de camp to the King, as chief of the security police, and promoted him to general. He succeeds General Bahjat Tabarah, a well-known anti-Com-munist, who was pensioned off by the Nabulsi Government. Few competent observers gave the Kingdom of Jordan more than another year or two of independent existence—and the end might come next week, the Amman correspondent of the “Manchester Guardian” wrote today.

The correspondent said that the tension which had long been in evidence between the King and the Government came dangerously near to breaking point last week, with the Cabinet’s decision to establish diplomatic relations with Russia. . “Not Yet Approved” The King had not yet approved that decision, and if, as seemed likely, he refused to do so, his refusal would cause an open breach between himself and his Government. If the struggle were not quickly resolved it could mean civil war in Jordan, or the country’s partition among its neighbours, the correspondent said. The tension between King and Cabinet sprang'~from causes both general and particular. A general source of irriation was the young King’s tendency to intervene personally in the field of domestic and international politics. The decision by the Government last week to recogninse and establish relations with Russia suggested that Mr Nabulsi and his Left-wing colleagues felt their position had been strengthened, the correspondent said. Another point at issue was the attitude which Jordan should adopt towards the Eisenhower Plan. The King was known to be in favour of co-operation with the Americans. Mr Nabulsi’s Government, which was elected last October with an express mandate to sever Jordan’s ties with Britain, followed the line dictated by Syria and Egypt on the Eisenhower Plan, the correspondent wrote.